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FRANK ttEBCE. 

HIS POLITICAL LIFE. 

HIS APPEARANCE IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED 

STATES. 

HIS NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 

HIS ELECTION, AND VIOLATION OF THE PLEDGES OF 

HIS LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE, AND INAUGURAL 

ADDRESS. 

HIS CONNECTION WITH THE BREAKING UP OF THE 
COMPROMISE OF 1850. 

HIS EFFORTS TO RENDER KANSAS A SLAVE STATE. 

HE AUTHORIZED THE CALLING OUT THE FEDERAL 

FORCES TO PUT DOWN THE ADVOCATES OF 

FREEDOM. 

HE EULOGIZED JEFF. DAVIS AND EXPRESSED HIS PREF- 
ERENCE FOR HIM AS THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE 
FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 

HE DECLARED THAT IN THE EVENT OF AN ATTEMPT 

ON THE PART OF THE SOUTH TO SECEDE, THE 

DEMOCRACY OF THE NORTH WOULD AID HER; 

AND THAT THE NORTHERN CITIES SHOULD 

BE DYED WITH BLOOD. 

HE INDEAVORED TO MAKIjl GOOD HIS ASSURANCE TO 

JEFF DAVIS. 

HE MISREPRESENTS THE FATHERS OF THE REPUBLIC. 
HE VINDICATES THE TRAITORS OF BALTIMORE. 

HE DENOUNCES THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED 
STATES AND HER AGENTS. 

HE IS OPPOSED 'J'O THE EXERCISE OF THE CONSTI- 
TUTIONAL PROVISIONS FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF 
REBELLION, AND THE PUNISHMENT OF TREASON J) 

HE PROPOSES TO MEET THE VIOLENCE AND INVASIONS 
OF ITS ARMIES BY "MORAL SUASION." ,, . 

HE HAS NO CENSURE FOR ITS LEADERS, ETC., Et6. 






Hon. Franklin Pierce' 

Concord, New Hampshire : 

Sir: There is an Eastern tale which describes one who, com- 
mencing life amid the quiet and gentleness of a pure and invig- 
orating locality, and with the innoceney of an uneontaniinated 
heart, became, as he advanced in life, the idolized favorite of a 
numerous clan, and linally their stdected chief. 

But intoxicated by the position to which he was elevated, and 
misled by the madness of ambition, he abandoned the interests of 
his clan, and appeared as the base agent and emissary of a cor- 
rupt and ignoble tribe. 

And when, at length, '"the strife and clangor of arms" raged 
between them, his sympathies were with that tribe, in all of its 
hostile purposes and movements, and he cheered them on, by 
carefully considered words and studied actions, and thus rendered 
himself an object of scorn and censure in the annals of his native 
spot. 

This jfiction of the East well illustrates the early life, and more 
advanced days, of an inhabitant of the Western Hemisphere, and 
of the Republic of America. 

You, sir, are that inhal>itant. 

Born amid the salubrious breezes of Hillsborough, New Hamp- 
shire, on the 23d of Nov., 1804, in 1827 you opened a law office 
in that place, and soon entered upon the arena of politics ; and 
from 1829 to 1832, you were a member of the House of Repre- 
sentatives. 

You were then a Jackson Democrat, and concurring with that 
immortal hero and Statesman, and with the Democratic Conven- 
tion which met at Concord on the 15th of June, 1830, you were 
*'opposed to any scheme of national disunion." 

[See Democratic Toxt Book.] 

In 1833 you were elected a member of the 23d Congress and 
accordingly took your seat in the House of Representatives. 

Subsequently you wore ekctod to the Senate of the United 
States, and entered upon the discharge of your duties at the 
extra session which convened on the 4th of March, 1837. 

From this period until 1842, you were a member of that body. 

It was, doul)tless, sir, while connected with these bodies, that 
the malign inliuences of a Southern city, and the promises and 
flatteries of sellish parlizans, penetrated, "as a fatal cancer," into 
the purity of brain and heart which you had originally possessed 
amid the streams and mountains of your bouyant and happy 
youth." 



; 



But these influences, as the poison of the Simoon, were invis- 
ible, and you concealed their effects upon your character, and 
moved and spoke and acted as one untarnished and unfallen. 

Time passed on. I cannot dwell upon your nomination for 
Governor of New Hampshire. Upon your nomination by Presi- 
dent Polk, as Attorney General of the United States— nor yet 
upon the manner in which, untouched by the fire of the ene- 
my, you " fainted" and fell from your stumbling steed, in the 
month of August, 1847, at the battle of Contreras. 

Passing over nearly five years, I come to June, 1852. In that 
month the Convention of the " American Democracy " assembled 
at Baltimore, and on the one hundred and forty-ninth ballot you 
were selected as the candidate for President. 

That Convention passed, among others, this resolution i 

" Resolved, That the Democratic party will resist all attempts at reaewing, in Con- 
gress or out of it, the agitation of the slavery question under whatever shape or color 
the attempt may be made." 

(See '' The Campaign," Washington City, D. C. 
Proceedings of Baltimore Convention, etc.) 

Your letter of acceptance was dated 

Concord, N. H., June 17, 1852. 
In it you said: 

" I accept the nomination npon the platform adopted by the Convention, not be- 
cause this is expected of me as a candidate, but because the principles it embraces 
command the approbation of my judgment." 

James Buchanan, referring to your nomination, and that of 
Hon. Wm, R. King, for the Vice Presidency, said : 

'•The late Baltimore Convention, in obedience to our will, has erected a pi itform 
of principles, in the midst of the nation, on which every true Democrat can prAudly 
stand. Does the man live, be he Democrat or Whig, who, knowing Franklin Piefce 




(Democratic Text. Book, p. 33.) 

"With your promises, and these and similar assurances before 
them, a majority of the American votes supported you. 

You were elected President of the United States of America 
over the veteran and hero. Gen. "Winfield Scott, and on the 3d of 
March, 1853, you were inaugurated. 



^pnrpplv sir had you articalated tlie oath ot omce—bcarceiy 
hadTb^tLS'Kbli passed fom your '-^^ -'; * - ft'Ll 
your promises and the hypocriey of your feivcnt hope» Became 

''X'a"little while yon were secluded from the public eye and 
"curtained'' " ith eadins politicians from below Mason and 
Dixon^ line "for the purpose of maturing schemes for the repeal 
?f the con?promise n>easires, and the indefimte extension ot Af- 
rican Slavery over the American continent. , nltimatelv 
A bill denominated "The Kansas Nebraska Bill, nltimateiy 
sprang from this conclave as Minerva from the clett bran, ot Ju- 
''"iTwas discussed. Webster an.l^tUay were gone Cass^ was 
feeble. Opposition was aseless. ihe l^ill ^^ab pab 
30th ot May 1854. 

^o^rSr^i^'pi^^S^ wf n and uttered ^^^^^Z 
edin Heaven, were utterly disregarded. More, sir, tney 

'l'TcotKt™ctTHE«..xat.u.vop.n. N.«to. W..S U„.B,,V 

"TguS-l arose. It swept on. It unfolded itsel|iuaU otMts 
pow?rand violence, upon theoncepeacef^ulso. of Kan«is^ Her 

krloSr-stL^^- Zgtl t?:™ tr dHv^Xm .b_e 

security and repose to the P^l^l'^,^ '""\t' i have i owk to ...r.vKNT it, those u-ko placed 
to suffer no shock during my official term, if i have i OA\hii 

me here may be aesitrrdr mrililied hv the words " >/ ^ have 

But it will be observed that this -^^l^y^^V^ ';'';;, wore not ignorant of ef- 
power ,0 prevent it,"-^ c,,.al.fic.U,on ^^'>": \'™l'' ;^\ ';,ri„ fact designed to prepare 
forts being made to disturb the '• ''^P^^ ;- ,'^" ,. I'^il7^\n relation to it. 
the way for your subsequent base ;i«f ^^f;/ ' Vj;;/X« " of the Baltimore ConvcUton 
Wh;sir,yo.,:/»«rfthe power. Andthe.^9/- < f^ouW l>=^ve used it and preserved 
approved of the exercise of the ^'veto pourr J^^^^\'^^^ 
the repose of the country ; but tl»« .V"" ^f ju. de r to do ^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^ ^^^^^^^^^^ 

In this connection it may be -iddel ' f ^l'^,, ^fj^^est and untiring advocates. In 
.'the Democratic party" in 18 2, 'V;'\.:rof Ro e^entatives of a Democratic State,' 
1853 and 1854, he was "in the House o ^"^^^ Conventions and a member ot 
and during this period a dch.gate to one ^J^ ^^1^^!^,,,^ from Washington cty 
" the Committee on Resolutions.' That ^-""^^"''"" ^^ ., j, „.as then and there, thai 
in relation "to setting aside the Co-P-^ ^ J^^ , • ^ your contnnplatca and after- 
the u^r,terMst ol,ta,n.l ''''<'''>"''''^'''.'^^^^^^^^^^ your character and coo- 

u>ards developed perjidy. He was f "^^^'^ .f" '" ^ jg'! i„ vivid remembrance," while 
duct. That view will not soon be forgotten. It is 
thifi letter is being prepared. 



polls; ballot-boxes were seized and destroyed; property was 
stolen ; houses were entered, plundered, and burned ; women and 
children were insulted and violated ; men were tarred and feath- 
ered and murdered ; printing presses were destroyed; and "free- 
dom of speech" was violentl}' stricken down. 

(See pp. 129, 152, 2V5, 276, Gov. Geary's administration in Kansas.) 

And while these acts — thf legitimate results of your per- 
fidy AND falsehoods — Were occurring, what, sir, did you do? 

Among other things, you sent a special message to Congress, 
which was read on the 24th of January, 1856, in which, after a 
labored vindication of the pro-slavery rutfians " of States near to 
the Territory of Kansas " and of " the Shawnee missioti legisla- 
ture," you inisrepresented the action of the Northern States, and 
denounced the citizens of the Territory, who had called a con- 
vention to form "a free State Constitution." You even went so 
far as to declare that this simple act was '■'■revolutionary,"' and that 
it would become " treasonable" if it reached the length of organ- 
ized resistance by force to the fundamental or any other federal 
law, and to the authority of the General Government. 

You then proceed to say : 

"In such an event, the path of liuty for the Executive is plain. The Constitution 
requiring him to take care that the ]a\vs of the United States be faithfully executed, 
if thev be opposed in the Territory of Kansas, he may and should place at the dispo' 
sal of the marshal any public force of the United States which happens to be within 
the jurisdiction, to be used as a portion of the Posse C omit at is ; and, if that do not 
suffice to maintain order, then he may call forth the militia of one or more States for 
that object, or employ for the same object any part of the land or naval force of the 
United States. So, also, if the obstruction be to the laws of the Territory, and it be 
duly presented to him as a case of insurrection, he may employ for its suppression 
the militia of any State, or the land or naval force of the United States. And if the 
Territory be invaded by the citizens of other States, whether for the purpose of de- 
ciding elections or for any othei*, and the local authorities find themselves unable to 
reperor withstand it, they will be entitled to, and upon the fact being fully ascertain- 
ed, they shall most certainly receive the aid of the General Government. 

** ^-'^ ^ * * * * * 

" Entertaining these views, it will be my imperative duty to exert the whole power 
of the Federal Executive to snpport public order in the Territory ; to vindicate its 
laws, whether Federal or local, against all attempts of organized resistance ; and so 
to protect its people in the establishment of their own institutions." 

(See 3d vol. Statesman's Manual, pp. 2133, 2134.) 
(Clusliey's Political Text-Book, p. 365, 366.) 

This expression of your views, and of your conception of duty, 
was followed on the 15th and 16th of February, by two orders 
issued from members of your Cabinet. 

The first was from Jeff. Davis, Secretary of War. It was 
dated — 

"War Department, Washington, Feby 15,1856," and was addressed separately to 
Col. E. V. Sumner and Brevet Colonel P. St. G. Cooke. 



\ 



It contained this clause : 

"If the Goveraor of the Territory, finding the ordinary course of judicial proceed- 
ings and the powers vested in the United States Marshals, inadequate for the sup- 
pression of iusurrectionary conibiuatioas or armed resistance to the execution of the 
law, should make requisition upon you to furnish a military force to aid him in th6 
performance of that official duty, you are hereby directed to employ for that purpose 
such part of your command as may, in your judgment, consistently be detached from 
their ordinary duty.'' 

(See Brewerton's War in Kansas, p. 373.) 
(National Intelligencer, Feb'y 20, 1856.) 

The second was addressed to "Hon. Wilson Shannon, Govei*-^ 
nor of the Territory of Kansas." 
It was dated — 

" Department of State, 

" WasJmigton, Feb'y 16, 1866." 

and was over the signature of W. L. Marcy. 

It was directed Gov. Shannon. 

" In order to execute the laws, and preserve the peace, you are hereby authorized 
to make requisition u|>on the officers commanding the United States military forces 
at Fort Leavenworth and Fort Riley, for such assistance as may be needen for the 
above specified purpose." 

(lb. p. 372.) 

Now, fairly examined, these documents disclose the fact that 
the two last were simply designed to carry out the opinions ex- 
' pressed in the lirst. It is true that, in terms, power was given to 
Cols. Sumner and Cooke, to use the military force of the Gen- 
eral Government for the suppression of insurrectionary combina- 
tions against the latv, and Gov. Shannon was directed to call upon 
them for such assistance as he might need to execute the laws and 
preserve the peace. 

But, then, in your message, you had limited the phrase "in- 
surrectionary combinations" to the advocates of freedom and 
opi)onents of involuntary servitude, and designated, not eo nom- 
ine, but yet distinctly, the laws of the Shawnee legislature as those 
winch should be enforced — laws of which Gon. Cas.s, on tlie 13th of 
May, 18.50, in the Senate chamber of the nation, spoke thus: — 
" Offences are created and prohibitions and penalties provi- 
ded IRRECONCILABLE WITH THE FIRST PRINCIPLES OP HUMAN FREE- 
DOM AND REVOLTING TO AMERICAN FEELINGS,"* 

(Appendix Cong. Globe, 34tli Cong., let Session, p. 525.) 



* [See Statutes Kansas Territory, 185.'"), cli.-ip. 1.")], page 715. Sec 11 
and 12. Et anir und iirij.'\ 

Hkc. 11. If any person print, write, introduce into. i>uhlisli or circulate, or cause to 
bo hrouglit into, iiriiited, written, puliiiolied, or circnlateii, or shall knowingly aid or 
ttssisl in bringing into, printing, publishing, or circulating, within this torrilory, any 



•7 

• 'But this fact was of no importance to you. By bayonets, and 
musketry, and cannon, and devastation, you were prepared to ex- 
ecute them ! 

The demon of human bondage demanded the fearful sacrifice, and 
you eagerly respo7ided to the demand. 

Weil has Milton said, 

•'Devil damned, with devil firm concord holds." 

The concord is no less firm and appalling among men of de- 
based principles and ignoble motives. 

But I must not dwell here. Not because you aimed to prevent 
it, but because 

" There's a Divinity that shapes our ends, 
Rough-hew them as we may," 

no hostile collision occurred in Kansas between the national 
forces and the champion of freedom. 

Time rolled on, and at length the goddess of liberty sat down 
an exultant victor on the plains and hy the streams of Kansas. 

But the conflict of ideas and principles, of interest and passion, 
which had arisen from your broken vows and forgotten oath, was 
not terminated. It continued. 

The South, forgetting all the teachings and hopes of the 
fathers, and impelled by the madness of her ambition, determined 
never to be contented unless her principles, purposes and insti- 
tutions should be planted in every section of the Nation,* and be 
protected i)y the organic law of the land — in fact, by the com- 
bined action of the^Federal and State Governments. 

book, paper, pamphlet, magazine, handbill, or circular, coataininD: any statements, 
arguments, opinions, sentiment, doctrine, advice, or inuendo, calculated to produce a 
dis^orderly, dangerous, or rebellious disaffection among the slaves in this Territory, 
or to induce such slaves to escape from the service of their masters, or to resist their 
authority, he shall be guilty of felony, and be punished by imprisonment and hard 
labor for a term not less than five years. 

Sec. 12. If any free person, by speaking or writing, assert or maintain that persons 
' have not the right to hold slaves in this Territory, or shall introduce into this terri- 
tory, print, publish, write, circulate or cause to be introduced into this Territory 
written, printed, published or circulated in this Territory, any book, paper, magazine, 
pamphlet or circular, containing any denial of the right of persons to hold slaves in 
this Territory, such person shall be deemed guilty of felony, and punished by impris- 
onment and hard labor for a term of not less than two years. 

And yet, sir, after having endeavored to put these Sections " in full operation," at 
the point of the bayonet, you have the temerity — the effrontery to prate about ^'free- 
dom of speech and liberty of the Press." 

Well might the Roman statesmen and orator come back to earth, appear in Con- 
cord, N. H. and exclaim — tempora, mores! 

* In proof of this, I may refer to the following resolution of Jeff. Davis, your spe- 
cial friend, your beau ideal of humanity, offered in the Senate of the United States, on 
the 29th of Dec, 1860. 

In the "Annual Cyclopedia," 1861, p. 186, it is said, " it contains in a few words 
the entire claim, made by Southern members, of what was necessary to secure their 
rights." 



8 

If this should not be permitted and authorized, dif?unioii, dis- 
ruption, secession were proclaimed as the "alternative." 

The Presidential contest was coming on. 

It was the month of January, 1860 ; and jou, as in former 
days, were in secret, active consultation with the chiefs and 
champions of the South. 

To sustain this declaration, the following letter may be 
produced : 

Clarendon Hotel, January 6, 1860. 

My Deau Friend : — I wrote you an unsatisfactory note a day or two since. I have 
just Lad a pleasant interview with Mr. Shepley, whose courage and fidelity are equal 
to his learning,' and talents. He says he would rather fight the battle with you as the 
standard bearer, in 18G0, than under the ausjiices of another leader. The feeling 
and judgment of Mr. S. in thi.s relation is, I am confident, rapidly gaining ground in 
New England. Uur ])eople are looking for "the coming man." One who is raised 
by nil the elements ot his character above the atmosphere ordinarily breathed by pol- 
iticians. A man really fitted for this emergency by his ability, courage, broad states- 
manship and patriotism. Col. Seymour (Tho's H.) arrived here this morning, and 
expressed his views in this relation in almost the identical language used by Mr. 
fcihepley. It is true that tn the present state of things at Washington, and through- 
out tiie country, no man can predict what changes two or three months may bring 
forth. Let me suggest that in the morning debates of Congress, full justice seems to 
me not to have been done to the Democracy of the North. I do not believe that our 
friends at the South have any just idea of the state of feeling hurrying at this moment 
to the pitch of intense e.\asperalion between those who respect their political obliga- 
tions, and tho.-^e who have apparently no impelling power but that which fanatical 
passion on the subject of domestic slavery imparts. Without discussing the ques- 
tion OK KiuiiT — of abstract power to secede, I have never believed that actual disruption 
of the Union can occur without blood ; and if through the madness of Northern Aboliti^ ""'sts 
that dire calamity must come, the fighting will not be along Mason and Dixon's line inertly. 
It will bktvitiiin oca own bobdeus, in our own streets, between tub two classes 

ok citizens To whom I HAVE ItEKEKREU. ThOSE WHO DEFY LAW AND SCOUT CONSTITU- 
TIONAL OULKJATIONS, WILL, IF WE EVER HKACH THE ARBITRAMENT OF ARMS, FIND OCCUPATION 

ENOiGH AT HOME. Nothing but the state of Mrs. Pierce's health would induce me to 
leave tlie country now, although it is quite likely that my presence at home would be 
of little Berviee. I have tried to imj)ress upon our people, especially in New Hamp- 
shire aud Connecticut, where the only elections are to take place during the coming 
spring, that while our Dniou meetings are all in the right direction and well enough 
(or the i)re.<ent, tht-y will nut be worth the paper upon which their resolutions are 
written unless we can overlbrow political Aboiitiouism at the polls and repeal the 

RcsoUed, Thai it shall be declared, fli/ amendment of the Constitution, that pro- 
perly in slaves, recognized as such by the local law of any of the States of the Union, 
thall stand on the same footing, in all constitutional and federal relations, as any other 
specif)! of property, shall not be subject to be divested or impaired by the local law of 
any other St.ile, eilhi-r in escape thereto, or of transit or sojourn of the owner therein- 
and in no case wliattver, shall such i)roperty be subject to be divested or impaired by 
any legislmive act of the United Slates, or of any of the Territories thereof. — Congres- 
sional O'lol/f, 2d Sess., lU'tlh Cong., Piirt 1, p. 190. 

"This "claim," it will be seen, included, among other things, (1,) an amendment 
of the Fi'diTal Constitution; (2,) the placing of slaves and horses, mules and hogs, 
clc, on the same ground of ownership; (3,) the upholding of tliis created status°o'f 
sliives by the executive. Judicial, and legislative departments of the Government ; 
(4,) and ihi-ir uncontrolled transit and sojourn with their masters in the free States'. 
Now, nil ihi.s, uikI more, you were willing to concede to " the South." You would do 
8o lo-diiy. Wh.ii mockery, then, sir, what deception, is there in your party cry and 
mullo, '•r/ir t'otistilutiou as it is and the Union as it teas .'" 



, ( 



9 

unconstitutional and obnoxious laws which in the cause of •' personal liberty" have 
been placed upon our statute books. I shall loek with deep interest, and not without 
hope, for a decided change in this relation. 

Ever and truly your friend, 

FRANKLIN PIERCE. 
Hon. Jeff. Davis, Washington, D. C. 

This letter was discovered uear Jackson, Miss., among the pri- 
vate papers of " the coming man," and rendered public by Wil- 
liam H. Gibbs, Captain Co. H, 15th III. regt., 2d brigade, 4tb 
division, 17th army corps, Army Tennessee. 

And what, sir, does it show ? IsTot simply the facts that yon 
were in consultation with JeiF. Davis — that you regarded him as 
the most pure and illustrious character of -the country, and that 
he was your primary choice for the Presidency of the United 
States — the exalted position which you had corrupted and tar- 
nished. 

But, in addition to these, it establishes the significant truths, 
that the subject of secession was seriously considered, at the date 
of your letter, in the secret deliberations of the South ; that you 
had not a word to urge against her asserted " right " to secede — 
a7id that you encouraged her to " put forth the effort,'' hy the assur- 
ance that, if she did so, she loould he aided by the Democracy of the 
North ; that, ivith this object in view, they would inaugurate loar 
above Mason and Dixon s line, stain and croivd the streets of Con- 
cord, and Neiv York and Philadelphia, and other cities and toivns, 
i.'Mi the blood and bodies of the opponents of secession, and thus give 
them such " occupation at home '' as would enable the South to succeed 
in her attempt at national disintegration or disrup>tion ! Thus en- 
couraged, thus assured, sir, in less than one year from the date of 
your letter, the rebellion of the South was determined upon, and 
incipient movements to consummate it instituted. James Buch- 
anan, your former eulogist, and, in all the attributes of infamy 
and baseness, your becoming successor, was President of the 
United States. 

In the Cabinet were, John B. Floyd, Isaac Toucey, Jacob 
Thompson, and Howell Cobb. 

Under their instructions, or in harmony with their indicated 
views, our army and navy were dispersed — cannon and munitions 
of war were accumulated in the Southern States — forts, arsenals, 
custom-houses were seized and plundered — general and field 
officers resigned — the treasury was robbed — and, on the 12th 
day of April, 1861, Fort Sumter was assailed, and our flag 
lowered at the command of Beauregard and his " associates in 
hostile arms." 

The strife thus commenced has swept on as the march of the 
hurricane. It has stricken down many of the noblest and purest 
of our population. It has desolated many once joyous firesides. 
It has taxed to the utmost the resources, and called forth freely 



10 

the means of the nation. It has invoked from woman in her 
gentleness, from man in his sternness, and from childhood in its 
earnest innocency, a heroic; patriotism, a consecrated devotion, 
and an enthusiastic affection for the country unsurpassed in the 
annals of time. 

But, with all of these sublime examples around you, with the 
convulsions of your country within your view, with her cries of 
need and wails of distress upon your ears, you have been un- 
moved. 

Others flung off" the fetters of party, and, rising with the de- 
mands of the hour and country, became as Butler, Burnside, 
iSickles, Cochran, Meagher, McClernand and Logan, Cass, John- 
son, Dickinson, Wright, Brough, Brady and Knox — pure heroes, 
and exalted and incorruptible statesmen. 

But you, sir, destitute of great principles, incapable of high 
emotions, and of grand and noble actions, "bound the fetters of 
faction more closely around you," and have only appeared as the 
traducer of the Government, the opponent of its policy, and the 
artful vindicator and apologist of its armed Southern foes. 

Hence you addressed a letter to the late Senator Pierce, of 
^Maryland, dated Concord, N. H., January 15, 1862, in which, 
among other things, you approved of the unpatriotic utterances 
of that Senator, and condemned the imprisonment of Marshal 
Kane, and other traitors of Baltimore, styling them " worthy 
sons of Maryland, who have never participated in lines of action, 
or in startliiiii; utterances, calculated to oncourasce agscression 
upon the rights and institutions of sovereign States." 

(See N. H. Patriot, April 1, 1863.) 

Abstinence from such aggressive action, it clearly appears was 
all which you regarded as necessary to their worthiness and no- 
bility. 

To you it was a consideration of no consequence that the}' had 
made aggressions upon the rights of the Union, and that some of 
them were connected with the murder of United States soldiers 
in the streets of Baltimore, while they were hastening to the de- 
fence of her endangered capital ! 

But I must not amplify here. 

In the flow of time the 4th of July, 1863, arrived. In Con- 
cord there was "an immense gathering " of your associates and 
followers. You presided. You spoke. It was an unrivalled 
occasion for exerting a high and patriotic influence upon your 
hearers. But, alas ! vou failed to do it. You did not aim to 
do it. 

This is what you did : After making — in accordance with what 
you had written in the letter to Senator I'ierce — the unfounded 
and deceptive assertion that the " Declaration ol" Independence 



11 

laid the foundation of our political greatness in the tioo funda- 
mental ideas of the absolute independence of the American 
people, and of the sovereignty of their respective States,'" you en- 
deavored to inflame the minds and hearts of vonr auditors against 
the General Government^ located at Washington, 1). C. 

And, in order to accomplish this nefarious object, you mis- 
represented and villilicd it. You declared that " the mailed hand 
of military usurpation " had stricken down, " in the loyal States^ 
the liberties of the people, and that its foot trampled on a dese- 
crated Constitution." And, adding that the President of the 
United States ^A^as responsible for the unconstitutional acts of his 
subordinates, "both eivil and military," you exclaimed, in impas- 
sioned earnestness, '•'•My friends, let (hose obey such behests who tvill; 
you and I have been nurtured here among the ^granite hills, and 
under the clear skies of New Hampshire, into no such servile tem- 
[lerament." Ah ! sir, how extremely solicitous you were, to 
•^ make good " your declaration to Jeff. Davis, that in the event 
of a rebellion of the South, Northern ^'- streets^' would be the local- 
ities of carnage and of battle ! 

But having thus denounced the Federal Government — the 
President, his subordinate otHcers, civil and military, and evinc- 
ed your anxiety to crimson the streets of the North with the 
blood of her citizens, did you pour forth any phillipics against 
the Confederate States? Did you express any condemnation of 
Davis and his numerous cruel and criminal subordinate officers,' 
civil and military ? 

B}' no means. But, on the contrary, in florid, glowing words, 
you eulogized Virginia, and more than intimated that you had 
no volition to do otherwise. 

And then, sir, in your peroration, when about to resume your 
seat, did j'ou call for any support or vindication of the insulted 
and torn flag of the Union ? Did you plead for the erection of a 
" great mausoleum of hearts " and hands around the assailed 
and endangered temple of our re{»ublican institutions? 

Did you, in accordance with the plan of our Revolutionary 
ancestors, and the requirements of the Constitution, as framed 
by them, and your own exposition of it in 1856, urge that "the 
great rebellion," should be "suppressed " by military force, and 
treason be duly " punislied?" 

Let, sir, your deliberately penned and spoken words respond. 
Here they are : "From the beginning of this struggle to the 
present moment my hopes have been in moral power. I repeat, 
then, my judgment impels me to rely upon moral force, and not 
upon any of the coercive instrumentalities of military power.''"' 

Why, sir, what a scheme is this ? Aside from the fact of its 
unco7i8titutionality, and its antagonism with your former views of 
duty, abstractly considered, it is stupendous folly. L(K)k at it. 
To tlie gathered and marshalled lu»sts in arms dl" the South, you 
w-ould present white banners and proffers of submission ! 



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Their hissing and exploding shells j'^ou would meet muu v.^... 

ties for mercy and prayers for the forgiveness of asserted and fan- 
cied wrongs ! 

To their dashing and proud horsemen, with their gleaming 
swords, you would oppose gentle rhetoric and soft and timid 
logic. 

And their invading and desolating hordes you would overcome 
by essays upon the advantages of peace, and by uncorked cham- 
pagne, smoking viands, and a triumpliial escort to the capitol of 
the nation. 

Sir, the '"■judgment" which would dictate these things, is not, 
cannot be the '■'■ judgment" of patriotism. It is the ^'■judgment," 
the perverted, corrupted purchased '■'- judgment" of Treason ; that 
of a "clan," which, reckless of the hallowed memories and deeds 
" of our earlier and better days," and the principles and views of 
Washington, and Madison and Jeiferson and their associates would 
'■'■ sectionalize" the institutions of the nation, pervert its original 
purposes, and join the toes of humanity in crying out 

All hail the power of slavery's name, 
Let freemea prostrate fall ; 
Bring forth the royal diadem, 
And crown it lord of all. 

And this, sir, to a great extent, is the conclusion of the hour 
with regard to your "Judgment." 

It will be more fully the conci-jsion of the coming ages, and 
the pen of history will only close your record when she wrues 
that, as the '■'■moral" traitor, is no less false to his country and 
deserving of her execration than the 'physical traitor the name of 
Benedict Arnold and Franklin Pierce, must be placed in the same 
roll of infamy and guilt. 

And here, sir, fondly hoping that the men of N'ew Hampshire 
and all lovers of their country will forsake utterly your guidance 
and leading, and fling oft" any remaining influence and control 
yon may have upon their actions, and give the warm aft'ection 
of their hearts and the uncontaminated eftbrts of their minds, 
and if necessary, the earnest toil of their bodies for the prcser- 
vation and welfare of their endangered country. I will con- 
clude this protracted letter. 

Yours, &c., A DEMOCRAT. 



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